Man who admits killing over politics currently free

Image by Tony Webster from Openverse

Politics shouldn’t be as ugly as it is. Yeah, it’ll spark disagreement, but over the last decade or so, things have gotten to the point that political disagreements destroy families and friendships.

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That’s bad enough all on its own.

However, it now seems to have claimed lives.

Not only that, but the individual in question is now walking around free.

The North Dakota man who allegedly admitted to fatally striking a teenage pedestrian with his car because the pair had “a political argument” was released from jail on Tuesday after posting $50,000 bond, records show.

Shannon Brandt, 41, spent just days in a Stutsman County Jail on criminal charges related to the death of 18-year-old Cayler Ellingson before he posted his $50,000 and was released, according to county jail records. Brandt’s listed attorney could not be reached by phone and did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s email inquiry.

Brandt, a Glenfield resident, was arrested in the early morning hours of Sunday after he told the state first responders’ radio that “he struck the pedestrian because the pedestrian was threatening him,” according to a probable-cause affidavit provided to Fox News Digital on Wednesday morning.

“Brandt stated that the pedestrian called some people and Brandt was afraid they were coming to get him,” the document continues. “Brandt admitted to State Radio that he hit the pedestrian and that the pedestrian was part of a Republican extremist group.”

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Now, I’m not saying that someone who is charged with vehicular homicide like Brandt is shouldn’t get have an option to bond out of jail.

What bothers me here is that Brandt is charged with, basically, a DUI accident despite him basically admitting this was because of a political disagreement.

Further, a lot of people on social media are tying Brandt and his claims of believing the victim was part of an extremist group to the recent red-tinged speech given by President Joe Biden.

I mean, his claiming self-defense alone makes it clear this was an intentional act on his part rather than a traffic accident resulting from drinking.  (It should be noted that we know the victim did make a couple of phone calls…the first to his mom to get her to pick him up. It appears that is what Brandt saw and freaked out over.)

The charge is wrong, and that is what’s a big problem for me.

Honestly, this is premeditated murder where the motive is politics. The charges should be quite different and, in a just world, the Department of Justice would be all over this. In fact, if the politics had been reversed, we all know they would have.

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Instead, Attorney General Merrick Garland is apparently oblivious to this.

Maybe North Dakota’s Attorney General Drew Wrigley, a Republican, would be willing to do something about this because nothing about this is right.

Honestly, I expected better out of Rural North Dakota, if I’m being perfectly honest.

Just keep in mind that politics is turning quite deadly and if that’s not enough of a reason to carry, what is?

It’s also looking like there are two sets of rules in this country, with non-leftists getting the short end of the stick.

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